iPhone 4S Sales Top 4 Million In First Weekend

An Apple Store customer looks at the new Apple iPhone 4S on Oct. 14 in San Francisco.

Justin Sullivan
/ Getty Images

Originally published on October 17, 2011 4:02 pm

Apple announced today that its iPhone 4S has sold more than four million units in the three days after it went on sale.

"iPhone 4S is off to a great start with more than four million sold in its first weekend—the most ever for a phone and more than double the iPhone 4 launch during its first three days," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a statement. "iPhone 4S is a hit with customers around the world, and together with iOS 5 and iCloud, is the best iPhone ever."

That's surprising because when it was announced it seemed most of the tech press was saying Apple's newest incarnation of the iPhone was a dud. It was so badly panned by reviewers who were expecting an iPhone 5 instead of an incremental upgrade, that Apple stock dropped 5 percent after the announcement.

PC World spoke to tech analysts who pinned the record sales two big things: the 4S was released after a longer-than-usual wait, creating "pent-up demand" and for the first time ever the iPhone is now available on all three major wireless carriers. Sprint got the iPhone for the first time this weekend.